Chapter 11: Confrontations
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon
Daichi wasn't sure how long he had been following after Takeshi, but he had lost track of him at least ten minutes before. Dracomon was still able to pick up Impmon's scent, but it seemed to be all over the place, as though he had been running around in circles. Daichi and Dracomon finally stopped at the edge of the freight yard after emerging from the literal labyrinth of crates and boxes. Wherever Takeshi and Impmon had gone off to, they were a fair distance away now.
"Man, I would never have pegged those two for being this fast," remarked Daichi.
"Impmon certainly seemed fast when he ran out of the warehouse in the first place," replied Dracomon.
"I didn't exactly mean that literally. Either way, I wonder what exactly was wrong with Impmon. He never struck me as the type to have that kind of freak out. As a matter of fact, he was often quite snarky."
"Well; whatever it was, it seemed to have been triggered when he saw the weapon that the wizards had gotten for him. Maybe he recognized them from somewhere, or had a bad memory associated with them."
"Wait, how could he have a memory of those weapons? We've never encountered them before, and Impmon has lived out his entire life in front of us."
"Maybe it's a lingering experience from a past life then?"
"I know you Digimon get reformatted when you die, but do you actually retain memories from the previous life when that happens?"
"I'm not sure actually, although that's because I've never died. Then again, maybe I have died and just don't remember it."
Daichi snickered at the bizarre nature of his partner's comments. He then, in a spurt of rational thinking, plucked his cell phone from his pocket. He pulled up Takeshi's cell number and attempted to call him. Unfortunately, there was nothing but static coming from his earpiece. He looked at the display and saw that his phone wasn't receiving any kind of signal. He sighed and tucked his phone away. Dracomon had observed Daichi doing this silently, and had an idea of his own.
"Do you think maybe you can find Takeshi with your Digivice?" proposed Dracomon. "As I recall, they were able to pick up each others signals before when we were in the Digital World."
Daichi smacked himself in the forehead for not thinking of that before. He plucked his Digivice from his pocket and began looking it over. His position was indicated on the screen, and there was one other signal nearby. Since all the signals appeared as blinking dots, he was unsure whether or not that signal was Takeshi and Impmon. The same signals had also shown up when there were other Digimon nearby in the Human World, so it was just as likely to be one of Queenmon's servants.
Daichi was interrupted from his thoughts by growling from Dracomon. "There's another Digimon here," he said gruffly. "It's not one of our friends either."
As soon as Dracomon had spoken, the two of them heard footsteps coming up behind them. They both turned on the spot in time to see an eight foot tall silhouette walking towards them between two lanes of boxes. The outline appeared humanoid, although what appeared to be a cape fluttered about him. When he emerged from the maze of crates, Dracomon instantly recognized him.
"This isn't good Daichi," he remarked. "That's Gallantmon; one of the Royal Knights!"
"Seriously," exclaimed Daichi, "why do these guys always show up at the worst possible time?"
"The interpretation of the timing of an event is subjective," stated the Knight. "What makes you think that this time is unsuitable for my presence?"
"Well; seeing as how we just got trounced on by one of Queenmon's other subordinates, and are now separated from out friends, I don't see how this could be any worse for us."
"Perhaps; but that only holds true if I had come here with the intent to fight." Gallantmon then raised his arms to show that he was carrying no weapons. "My name is Gallantmon the Wise, and I have come here to speak with you, Daichi. From what I know of your group's previous endeavors, you often seem to take on the role of leadership, which is why I chose to speak with you instead of any of the others."
"I'm not sure we really have anything to talk about," retorted Daichi, "seeing as how your sovereign decided to launch a huge invasion force into our world."
Gallantmon hung his head and sighed. "I am aware of this action, but I would assure you that I was opposed to it. It was Duftmon the Swift who proposed it, against the recommendation of the elder knights. He has always been a drastic one in his methods."
"Be that as it may," cut in Dracomon, "we're still on opposite sides right now. What exactly do you want to talk to us about?"
"I wished to inform you that, with the invasion force quelled, the other knights, as well as Queenmon herself, will be coming here. I came with the invasion force to observe this world, and I have found that it is generally peaceful. I do not wish for this world to be enveloped in an unnecessary war, so I thought I would take it upon myself to try and prevent that."
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
"It is quite simple really; I want you to hand over that device you possess." As he spoke, Gallantmon pointed an armoured finger at Daichi's hand, which presently held his Digivice. "From what I have deduced, those devices give you the power to control us Digimon. Once those devices have been destroyed, any threat you pose shall have been neutralized."
"You have got to be kidding me," yelled Daichi. "There's no way I'm handing over my Digivice. Besides, you've got it all wrong. These were given to us by Seraphimon of the Benevolent Masters to symbolize our partnership with the Digimon."
"I don't know how you know of Seraphimon, but there are no records of him interacting with humans before his death. That you would tarnish his name with such a claim is despicable. I shall ask you once again; hand over that wretched device."
"I don't think so," cut in Dracomon. "Looks like talking time is over Daichi!"
"Looks that way." Daichi then pressed the button on his Digivice to release Ambrosius.
Dracomon grabbed hold of the weapon and was bathed in a bright blue light. 'DRACOMON WARP EVOLUTION! EXAMON!' Emerging from the massive array of light was a great, red scaled dragon. His shoulders and head were covered in spikes, and an incredibly long tail flowed out behind him. A pair of gigantic wings sprouted from his back, dwarfing the rest of his already sizeable body. These wings were lined with metal, ending in large spikes at the topmost point of the wing. A large, wing-like frill spread from the base of his arms across his back, almost giving the appearance of a cape. His right arm was embedded up to the elbow in the hilt of Ambrosius.
Gallantmon looked up at Dracomon's mega form and called out to him. "So; this is what became of you, Examon the Grand. I had hoped a better fate had befallen you, but it seems that is not the case. I had hoped that you were not the same as the Examon of legend that defeated Belphemon alongside a human. However, it seems that my hopes were to be dashed."
"Sorry to disappoint," bellowed Examon. "I left the Royal Knights after Queenmon showed up because I knew something was going to go wrong. I'm glad I did, since I might have ended up in the same brainwashed situation as you if I hadn't."
"Can you not see that it is you who is being controlled? Please stand down and allow me to apprehend this child; I do not wish to harm you."
"I don't want to fight you either, but if you insist on harming Daichi then I have no choice."
Without any further exchange of words, Gallantmon leapt back from Examon. He held out his right arm, over top of which a lance materialized. The lance was a cone shaped mass of metal, extending back to his elbow, where its red coloured hilt was attached to his armour. On his right arm, a shield materialized in the same way. The outer rim of the shield was golden, as were the markings adorning it. There was a ring surrounded by triangles at regular intervals that gave the appearance of a star. There was also an inverted hazard sign inside the circle.
Gallantmon raised the lance to Examon. "Do not worry, old friend. Gram and Aegis are merciful towards old comrades. However; they won't be so forgiving of the one who has taken control of you."
"Since talking reason to you guys doesn't seem to work, I guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way," retorted Examon. He then turned to Daichi; "Get on; you'll be safest with me."
Daichi nodded to his partner and began scrambling his way up the Digimon's left arm. He nestled himself within the spikes on Examon's shoulder as Gallantmon stood back and watched. Examon then reared up to his full height, which dwarfed the Royal Knight. He folded his left wing over his arm to shield Daichi from any attacks Gallantmon might launch, and raised Ambrosius to point at his opponent.
"Are you sure you want to fight me, Gallantmon? You may be swifter than me, but I am much more resilient than you."
"I shall do what I must to save you, my friend."
"I should say the same."
With that, Gallantmon leapt backwards, landing on top of one of the crates behind him. He held out Gram towards Examon and called 'Lightning Joust'! A burst of blue energy streamed from the tip of the lance, straight at Examon. Examon, being too big to avoid the attack, simply folded his other wing over into the path of the blast. The blast struck his wing and dispersed outwards; leaving naught but a small scorch mark.
"You'll have to do better than that," taunted Examon, unfolding his wing.
Examon aimed Ambrosius at Gallantmon again, which began to crackle with energy. He roared 'Dragonic Impact', and discharged a massive blast of energy from between the prongs of the lance's tip. The blast moved quickly and impacted within the collection of crates, scattering bits of pavement and wood everywhere. Examon was unable to see his opponent within the blast's resultant smoke.
Examon's ears directed his gaze upwards when he heard the swooshing noise of Gallantmon's cape. The knight was descending rapidly with his lance thrust forward, and seemed to be aiming for the left side where Daichi was sheltered. Examon, whose reflexes were just as sharp as the rest of the Royal Knights, quickly raised Ambrosius to parry Gram. He caught the tip of Gram between Ambrosius' prongs, and flung Gallantmon backwards. Gallantmon landed back near the crater from Examon's attack, but lowered his lance and hung his head.
"It seems that you are correct," he said, "I am not presently suited to best you in combat. I only hope that I am able to free you from the human's control before it is too late. Since that human so fervently protected his device, it seems to me that my theory was correct. I shall inform Queenmon of this, and hopefully your destruction can be avoided."
After his speech, Gallantmon set off another blast of energy directly in front of him. The blast was brighter than before, and forced Examon to avert his eyes. When he was able to look again, Gallantmon was gone. Examon grumbled and then sighed, displeased at the notion of having to fight his friend again. He released his grip on Ambrosius and promptly reverted to his rookie form, the weapon storing itself in Daichi's Digivice.
"So," began Daichi, "you were a member of the Royal Knights before?"
"Sorry for not telling you," replied Dracomon. "I thought it might seem suspicious, since the Royal Knights were our primary opponents after Queenmon. Also, I wasn't just a member; I was one of the three founders. Gallantmon, Omnimon and I were the first three Royal Knights."
"Wow, that's kinda impressive. I wish you'd told us sooner though; you could have given us info on the Royal Knights ahead of time."
"I never even thought of that. They were my allies though, so I didn't really think I'd have to share their strengths and weaknesses with anyone else."
"Well; we can save that for later. Right now we need to get out of here. Those explosions could probably be seen miles away."
"Right, let's head back to Takeshi's place."
While chasing after Impmon, Takeshi had discovered that, despite his size, his partner was incredibly quick on his feet. He had lost sight of the Digimon early on, and had to pull out his Digivice to keep track of him. Fortunately, he had not gotten lost within the labyrinth of crates surrounding the warehouse, and had instead ended up back in the suburbs. He was forced to ignore a series of weird looks when other people saw him running down the street with a pair of large pistols in his arms.
Takeshi was relieved when Impmon, according to the signal on his Digivice, had stopped moving. He traced it to an alleyway behind an old apartment complex, and was relieved about the lesser number of people. He looked up and down the alley, and finally found his partner at the end, huddled behind a garbage dumpster. Impmon was curled up in a ball and rocking slightly, and seemed like a complete nervous wreck. Takeshi set Beren Hena aside so as not to disturb his partner again, and then knelt down next to the Digimon.
"So," began Takeshi, not entirely sure of what to say. "Are you alright?"
Impmon looked up at his partner and smirked. "Yeah," he managed between sniffles, "never better."
"You don't look alright."
"Thanks Captain Obvious, what gave that away? Was it the screaming or the running away like a madmon?"
"Both actually. Care to shed any light on the reasons why you had that little breakdown?"
"I'm not sure that I can. Frankly I'm not quite sure of what happened myself."
"What can you tell me?"
"Well…" Impmon paused for a moment and pondered what to tell his partner. The images he had seen were confusing and disorienting. They felt so much like memories, and yet he had spent his entire life from hatching with Takeshi and the other humans. He had heard the other Digimon talk of reformatting, and wondered if the 'memories' belonged to himself from a previous existence. He disregarded that theory due to the fact that he, like the other chosen Digimon, must have been born specifically to be partnered with the human children.
"It's okay," said Takeshi, interrupting his partner's musings, "if you don't want to talk about it, I can wait."
"No, it's not that," replied Impmon, "I'm just trying to sort it out myself."
"Anything coming of that?"
"Well; when I reached for Beren Hena, a bunch of images flashed through my mind."
"What kind of images?"
"That's the weird thing; they felt so much like memories. But, they didn't belong to me, at least I don't think they did."
"What did you see?"
"I saw lots of things, but the ones that stood out most were three figures. They appeared in different places, so they might not even be connected."
"Do you know who they were?"
"No, I just saw what they looked like. There was a regally dressed demon offering me his hand, a warrior clad in black armour who seemed to be dying, and an angel with black wings."
When Takeshi heard about the black-winged angel, his thoughts immediately turned to Fellangemon. This fallen angel Digimon had been the one who tricked him into releasing the Demon Lords three years prior, as well as having maimed Evan's partner. The other two didn't occur to him as anyone he could remember, but they had given him an idea of what might have happened.
"I think those 'memories' you saw belonged to the previous owner of that weapon," proposed Takeshi. "I think I knew one of those figures from your vision, and there's no way you could have ever met him. He died a long time before you were even born."
Impmon seemed greatly relieved to hear what his partner had said. "You mean it? I'm not crazy or nuthin?"
"Of course not; if that figure was who I think it was, I can understand why you freaked out. You don't need to worry about it though, since he's long dead."
"Yeah, but then if the last guy who owned these weapons knew this freaky angel guy, is it really a good idea for me to be usin'em?"
"I don't know those two wizards or their master, but the other kids tell me they were trustworthy friends. I think that it should be safe. Even if there were some risk, I don't think we'd have the option of not taking it. The others are going to need our help. Not only that; but Chie, and the rest of the world for that matter, are going to be counting on us."
Impmon looked up at his partner with a bit of admiration. "Well; I can't let them hog all the glory, now can I?"
Takeshi smiled at Impmon. "Of course not. Now; we should go back to my place and wait for Daichi."
With that, Impmon stood up and took his place beside Takeshi. Takeshi held out his Digivice to the weapons he had laid aside, which then lit up. They dissolved into a stream of black light and were stored inside the device. Takeshi pocketed his Digivice and then proceeded to head back towards his place. He and Impmon stuck to the back alleys in order to get home as discreetly as possible.
Author's Notes: Tada, the first confrontation with the Royal Knights has concluded in a victory for the good guys… sort of. Impmon seems to have gotten over his little freak out, but I'm sure you readers have a better idea of what he saw than he does. Stay tuned, because things are about to get really intense.
